Week 06

Sermon Conversations with Alex and Aaron

There’s only so much we can cover in a Sunday morning gathering!
Each week, you’re invited to tune into our podcast at 11 am on Thursdays – recorded (and sometimes prerecorded) for later, online viewing.

What can you expect? Pastors Alex, Aaron, and the occasional guest having a casual conversation, diving deeper into ideas related to last Sunday’s teaching.

Ask Questions about the Sermon Series, Between You and Me – “Abiding in Hope (of The Promise)”
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We’ve been examining Romans 4 and how having children (or not) affects our sense of hope for a fruitful future. Today’s aspect of that future is old age and death.

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Romans 4:19-21 ESV

For various reasons, people of faith might lose heart when facing advanced age: with no children to provide them with a sure legacy or safety net should they fall into a dependent or debilitating condition. How can someone in that situation avoid despair? Let’s first consider the elderly widow Anna, featured here when Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple with them:

There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having been married to her husband for seven years until his death. She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment, she came up to them and began to give thanks to God and to speak about the child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 NET

Although this event highlights Anna’s holy occupation, I’ve often wondered where she ate and slept.  Did she sleep in a small space or even outdoors? Was she viewed as an outcast?

This brings me to the topic of elderly, and/or incapacitated people living in small spaces in facilities called “assisted living” or “nursing homes”. Since I’ve observed my mother and mother-in-law in those facilities, I comprehend why many people dread them. They are usually a final destination for the “good as dead”. What if you face such a destiny? How should you prepare?

I remember Gladyce who turned her last days on earth in my mother’s Nebraska nursing home into a holy occupation. Gladyce married late, her husband passed away, and she had no children. When she was in her mid 80s, she could no longer walk or live alone because of a hip issue. She had been a Christian for many years, and her determination to make the most of the rest of her life was undeniable.

Gladyce chose to share her small, sparsely furnished room with a blind lady who needed her company. Gladyce had also organized a dining room group (of other elderly women living in the facility, whose minds were still sharp), leading daily discussions of current events and faith topics. Those discussions eased the boredom that sets in after entering such an environment.

Gladyce also kept a stash of trinkets and candy for children. When my 5 year old daughter accompanied me for visits with my mother, she’d make a beeline to Gladyce’s room for a long chat. Other residents reached out, desperate to touch my daughter, but Gladyce’s thoughtful plans drew my child to her.

Application:

Although those such as Anna and Gladyce who are in the habit of praying for and giving to others are never “as good as dead”, not every elderly person with no spouse or children has developed a servant heart like Anna or Gladyce. Some, like my mother, suffer from dementia or other conditions that severely diminish capabilities they once exhibited.

Let’s guard against increasing cultural pressures to view the elderly or incapacitated (including ourselves) as excess baggage or “as good as dead” Take a look at present and oncoming pressures to end seemingly unproductive lives. Ask Jesus to search your heart and show you his mind on these matters. This long article tracing the evolution of Canada’s MAID law alongside official church views of the law may inform that search. This map shows the advance of those ideas in the U.S.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
Romans 4:16–17

I went to several Christian camps while in high school. During one of those experiences, the speaker asked us to write down what we wanted someone to say about us at our funeral. It sounds morbid, but it was meant to help us think about the kind of life that would produce a beautiful eulogy. I don’t recall everything
I wrote that day, but the idea stuck with me. Now, I have children, and much of my life’s legacy is wrapped up in them. I long for them to grow up to know and love God. I want them to discover and use their gifts to better the world.

Imagine if God had spoken to you and told you that your children would become a nation that would bless the world. That is what happened to Abraham and Sarah. Paul acknowledges that reality but extends the idea beyond Abrahams’s biological descendants. Paul tells us in this passage that Abraham’s true children are those who are of the Faith.

Even if you don’t have children, we all long to make a mark on the world. Paul is telling us that we can. Our faith and the faith we encourage in others is the true goal of life. For many of us, that will manifest in how we parent and transfer our faith to our kids. For others of us, it will look different, but the point is that God wants us to have an offspring of faith. That is a calling that anyone can participate in, whether you are a parent, empty nester, or single.

Might God be asking you to inspire faith within special persons? How might you invest your life in others so their faith becomes part of your legacy?

A few years ago, I was in Paris enjoying one of my favorite activities, window shopping. Strolling in a neighborhood with many small and interesting stores, one display caught my eye. In this window was a beautiful nesting doll, a symbol of fertility in Russia. Normally, I’m used to seeing these dolls with just a few pieces nesting inside –- perhaps 5 to 8. The doll in this window must have had well over 60 pieces, which is many more than I could have imagined possible.
This elaborate and intricate work of art seems to be a fitting metaphor for the promise God gave Abraham and Sarah, a promise they didn’t have the power to imagine. It’s also a way to expand our understanding of the promises God gives to us.

God had promised Abraham and Sarai not only a son, but a much bigger family. That family would be more numerous than the stars in the sky, blessed by a covenant that would cover descendants generation after generation:

God took him outside and said, “Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You’re going to have a big family, Abram!” Genesis 15:5 MSG

How many of us can relate to the amazement and hope Abraham must have felt when God gave him the promise of a child? There is something so powerful and compelling about having children. In Abraham and Sarah’s time, children were tied closely to social status and security — to be childless was to be vulnerable. While the social norms are different for us, the hope and longing is familiar. Having children guarantees sleepless nights and up close and personal encounters with challenges that range from messy to heartbreaking, yet that’s not enough to dissuade generation after generation to take the plunge.

The promise of a son for Abraham and Sarah was so riveting, in fact, that they were tempted to make having children an end in itself. In their case, their longing for a child year after year turned into taking matters into their own hands. Sarah, impatient with waiting to become pregnant, had Abraham sleep with her maidservant Hagar. While we may not immediately be able to relate to that twist in the story of Abraham and Sarah, it’s not hard, for me at least, to understand their actions. I often made my children into the be all and end all. My children and their well being have, at times, become the most important thing I was living for. Perhaps others can relate to this as well. It’s common for people to feel adrift and empty at the end of child raising, as if God’s purpose for their usefulness has ended with that phase of life. It’s as if we received and opened a beautiful nesting doll from God and then closed a chapter of our story. Whatever our story, we too may be able to relate to fiercely wanting a gift from God, and then getting so wrapped up, getting exactly what we want, that we lose perspective.

Back to the 60 plus layer nesting doll I saw in that Paris shop. Imagine receiving that doll as a gift and beginning to unpack the layers — one after another after another. That’s what God’s promise of descendants to Abraham and to us, through faith, is like. Just like Abraham and Sarah, we want to focus on what’s easy to understand and expect — at least one or two, maybe three or four children. God has so much more for us. If you have never had children, if you are hoping for children who have not yet come, or have raised them and now contemplate a new season in life, God’s promise to us is so much bigger than we can grasp or imagine. He promises to bless many through our faith, and there is no limit in time or circumstance when He can work through us.

Application

Imagine receiving a beautiful nesting doll from God and beginning to unpack the layers inside. How has God worked through you to bring a blessing to “descendants” — literal or figurative? What season are you in at the moment? Is it full of promise for children or are those days for you reaching an end? Did you hope for a season of children that has not come yet or that you were not at all able to experience? Pray for wisdom and faith to see how God can expand your vision of His promises and work through you whatever your circumstances or life stage.